Madonna (Pitti Tondo)

1504-05
Marble, 85,8 x 82 cm
Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence

In this tondo Michelangelo placed, next to the stern Madonna, a Child whose pose recalls that of ancient funeral genii. Thus the overall effect, despite the apparently playful attitude of the Child, is deeply serious, and the Madonna has an almost prophetic force, because of her size, which bursts out from the frame of the relief.